White Noise
by letmehavanickname
Summary: Scared, injured and on the run from pursuers unknown, Emily Fenton unintentionally gets caught up in the whirlwind world of NCIS. The team has to act fast to catch the people threatening her life, but time is of the essence and there are more complicated factors at play.
1. Run

"HEY! STOP!"

I turned round instinctually at the words, but continued running. There were three of them, they sent three guys this time. Oh God, _I just need to keep running_.

I sprinted over boxes and stray heaps of rubbish, with every part of my body aching with exhaustion. Suddenly, one of the men stepped out from a hidden right bend at the end of the alley, I saw the glint of the metal firearm catch in the moonlight.

 _They have guns._

The man yelled something else, but it was all white noise, my brain had stopped, my fight or flight response working in overdrive. _How did they find me?_

I had made sure to hide most of my features by wearing a black jumper, and by keeping my hair hidden under the hood. How did they know it was me? I propelled myself down the immediate path to my left, only to be cut off by another guy. _Not again…_

I flew around, intending to run back the way I came, and saw with a pang of fear that I was trapped.

 _Shit._ _Okay, how are you going to play this?_ A voice asked in the back of my head.

 _You can either run and take your chances, or beg for mercy and take your chances._

I almost rolled my eyes.

Run. Always run.

I noticed that the man effectively trapping me was considerably older than the other, I could see his silver hair from where I stood. I felt myself shaking, the adrenaline doing wonders at allowing me to work through the pain.

The younger man took a step towards me, and I knew I had to act. With as little warning as I could muster, I bolted towards the older guy, intending to knock him off his feet and make my escape. My feet slapped the pavement, and I made amendments in order to protect my left arm which had been previously injured by the last two assholes I ran from.

I barrelled towards the guy as fast as I could, but he must have been ready for what I was about to do, because he suddenly swung out at me, catching me square in the jaw.

I must have fallen down, because the next thing I knew, hands were pulling me up and roughly shoving me into the brick wall. My vision swam at the edges as an intense shooting pain from my shoulder made me cry out.

I suddenly felt the breeze comb through my hair. My hood must have fallen down in the commotion, I realised - not that it had done me much good in the first place.

"Please." My voice came out weaker than I had intended, but for some reason my half-hearted pleading worked. The arms that were pinning me disappeared abruptly, leaving me with no support. I slid down to the floor. Face throbbing, arm throbbing, everything throbbing…

"Boss…" A voice said. A short pause. I realised my eyes were closed. "She's a…"

The second voice answered gruffly "A girl, DiNozzo? Christ, ya think I can't see that?"

Then…The sound of a set of footsteps pelting the ground echoed around the alley. Someone else was coming. The third guy maybe? Hadn't there been three? My eyes flew open, and I somehow managed to pull myself from the ground. I'd hoped to use this as a distraction, to escape, I could still escape, but to my horror the older man was looking straight at me, his expression unreadable.

"DiNozzo." He warned his colleague - _is colleague even the right word? –_ Who's attention had been diverted by the arrival of the third guy. _Huh, new guy was even younger than the second_.

The world was still blurring every now and again as if everything I was living was nothing but an intensely painful nightmare. The older guy was still staring, his blue eyes looking me up and down with seemingly x-ray vision.

Then all of a sudden, he did something I hadn't expected. He holstered his gun. _What the hell?_ I had been backing away slowly, but I couldn't help but stop at this, and analyse the situation. I was well aware that my brain was not functioning as best as it could right about then, but I don't usually imagine things.

"We're not going to hurt you." The older man said in a softer tone than he'd used before.

He had raised his hands in a gesture of appeasement. "I'm Special Agent Leroy Gibbs."

He then motioned to the man standing to his left, "This is Special Agent Tony DiNozzo and that…" he gestured to his right, "…is Agent Tim McGee."

"We're from NCIS. That stands for –"

I knew what it stood for. "I know what it stands for." I muttered.

My left arm was hanging by my side, I was trying my best not to jostle it, and I was standing motionless now with my right arm wrapped around my stomach. An action I always performed when nervous.

However, I could hardly dare to believe that I was safe for the time being. _Can you trust them?_ The voice questioned. _Only one way to find out._

"Show me your badges." I ordered, with a lot more confidence than I felt. "All of them."

There was some rustling as all three guys, now standing opposite me, retrieved their badges and held them out for me to see. I hesitated slightly, thinking it through.

 _No way hit-men would go to all this trouble…They would have just killed me already._

I was safe. I realised that I was shaking, which was making me sway slightly…and then I collapsed.

Everything was just too painful. I couldn't think clearly, but I had the dim sense of being picked up and carried somewhere. _Hospital._ The one word appeared in my mind accompanied by a harsh twinge of panic, clearer than anything else had been for a while. I struggled slightly, forcing whoever was carrying me to stop.

"No hospitals. Please. No Hospitals." I tried to say, but my words came out as a garbled string of nonsense. "No hospitals." I tried once more. We were moving again. _Please have gotten the message._

 _I awoke to the ding of an elevator. "Clear the way." A voice commanded from slightly above me, startling me fully out of the land of unconsciousness. I looked sluggishly around at the orange walls of the cubicled office style floor, and my brain processed one thought in horror. Oh God, there are people. He's going to carry me out in front of these people…_

 _I somehow managed to squirm my way out of his arms and into a semi upright position. The man whose grip I had houdinied my way out of; the silver haired man who had introduced himself as Gibbs, gave me an appraising look._

 _"I can walk." I said with more determination than I felt, and anyway, it was half true, I could walk – it would just cause severe pain. But no way in hell was I going to be carried._

 _"You'd better let her, boss. She's got that don't mess with me look. It's the same one Ziva gets whenever she's about to punch or slap me like a ninj –"_

 _There was sudden movement as Gibbs suddenly and precisely turned to slap Tony…It was Tony, right around the back of the head._

 _This had come as a surprise, perhaps my mind hadn't had time yet to fully acknowledge I was safe, or maybe I was in shock - but I found myself flinching violently away which (of course) resulted in me accidentally hitting my injured shoulder on the elevator wall in the process._

 _My vision swam again. Damn reflexes._

 _"Whoa, boss." came a different voice, third guy maybe? Tim was it?_

 _"I know McGee, I got it." Strong arms held me up, but didn't proceed to carry me bride-over-the-threshold style. Thank god._

 _Instead, Gibbs motioned to Tony, "DiNozzo, help me get her over to the bullpen. McGee, go down to Autopsy and call Ducky. Tell him it's an emergency. Go."_

 _"What's your name?" He asked me._

 _"Emily Fulton." A pause._

 _"How old are you?"_

 _"Um, 18."_

 _Tony gave Gibbs a heavy glance at this._

 _"…Wait, did you say Autopsy?" I muttered._

 _Gibbs made a gruff noise of amusement. "Yep. But don't worry, he caters to living people too."_

 _Getting me over to the 'bullpen', it turns out, was a hassle, and not to mention extremely embarrassing. Too many people, too many eyes. It also appears that I was a little too confident in my own ability to push through pain, as I soon found myself intensely grateful for the extra support._

 _However, I was soon lowered into one of the black office swizzle chairs I used to love as a kid, and the searing pain in my arm - or was it more my shoulder? – slowly began to subside into a dull, but manageable throbbing._

 _I looked around once more. Gibbs it seemed, was busy barking at the nosy onlookers to get back to work, something I felt extremely appreciative of, until he moved away to crouch down in front of me. Without warning, my appreciation was overtaken by a sudden strong desire to run, to fight. My face felt like fire._ _He hurt you._ _My heart pounded in my chest._

 _You're not safe here._

 _I was trying to think too hard, about all the different ways I was in danger. Movies, books, all the plotlines, the accidental deaths, the murders, that could happen to me. I have to get away. It turns out, whilst my brain was whirling in overdrive to formulate a workable plan, I had already begun to put one in action. I'd somehow moved off from the chair, and backed myself into another wall, another corner._

 _"Emily." Gibbs was talking in a low voice. "It's okay, you're at NCIS now. You're safe."_

 _I didn't feel safe._

 _DiNozzo who'd been silently watching this exchange suddenly started to move towards me, which only panicked me more, my eyes flying from Tony to Gibbs and back again._ _Assess the threat… Assess the threat…._

 _"Tony. Stay back." Gibbs ordered, seeming to realising what was happening. Tony expression turned to one of confusion and then understanding. He stayed put._

 _"Where the hell is Ducky?!" Gibbs growled softly._

 _"Right here, Jethro." Came a reply from somewhere behind me._

 _Startled, I stumbled backwards, eager to maintain the same distance away from any possible danger._

 _"My, what do we have here?" He asked pleasantly, assessing my condition._

 _I frowned, and took another step back for good measure._

 _Somewhere within a more rational part of my brain, I registered from his accent and choice of words that he wasn't American. It would have made for a nice surprise if I had the capacity to care in the moment._

 _Gibbs motioned for Ducky to come over to him, and the two proceeded to talk for about a minute before Ducky turned his attention towards me, Gibbs following suit._

 _"Hello, my name is Donald, but you may call me Ducky._ _Now m'dear, am I to understand that you've been though a bit of an ordeal?" He asked kindly._

 _My natural response to this question was as most peoples are when they don't wish to talk, I shrugged, momentarily forgetting about my damned shoulder._

 _I tensed and cried out again, my right hand automatically moving to the comforting position around my stomach._

 _Not again…I refused to let the swirly bits of light carry me away, so I shook my head, trying to get my vision to clear._

 _I didn't dare move again._

 _Ducky's expression changed to one of deep concern, and he took a hesitant step towards me, his hand slightly outstretched. "Come now, no one here will harm you. Why don't you let me take a look at your shoulder, hmm?"_

 _I shook my head, but I couldn't help thinking it over. You're in shock._

 _I can't really trust my judgement right now._

 _I moved my gaze from Ducky, to Gibbs, and then to Tony. They all had the same look of worry._

 _I must look like a cornered wild animal._

 _I self-consciously turned my attention back to Ducky,_

 _"I think I need help." I admitted faintly._

 _"I know, dear." He smiled warmly at me and proceeded to carefully help me back onto one of the desks._

 _"Hey, Duck, where's McGeek?" Tony asked a few seconds later once I'd been seated on what, judging from the several cups of empty coffee cups in the bin, I'd assumed to be Gibbs desk – old dudes like their Joe – and anyway, the coffee addiction coupled with tiny pieces of what looked to be an old 90s cell phone meant it was unlikely to be anyone's desk. I almost laughed._

 _"He's gone to let Abby know that we have a visitor." Replied Ducky, putting extra emphasis on the R at the end of the word 'visitor'._

 _Ducky then turned his attention to me, and calmly reached out his hands._

 _"So, we must now get down to business. May I take a look at your shoulder?"_

 _I hesitated. I really didn't want anyone poking and prodding at me right now, but there was no other option._

 _"Erm, I suppose…"_

 _However, agreeing and getting my body to comply turned out to be two entirely different things, for whenever Ducky made a move to remove my jacket in order to get a better look at my injury, I couldn't help but twist away._

 _Ducky tutted, "We may have to try this another way." He gestured towards Gibbs' direction._

 _"Ah, Jethro, would you stand behind her just to keep her in place." Gibbs made to move forwards._

 _My expression must have voiced fear because Ducky glanced uncertainly at me, before changing his mind. "Ah, perhaps, we should wait until Timothy comes back from Abbigail's lab?"_

 _I knew I was being an idiot, Gibbs wasn't going to do anything to me, but I couldn't help but feel relieved all the same._

 _"Who's Abby, anyway?" I asked after a short pause, only to find myself blushing at the surprised expressions on the faces of the three men. Well, actually, Gibbs looked more amused than surprised. My insides squirmed uncomfortably from the attention, but I stared back. "What?" I frowned._

 _"N-nothing..." DiNozzo blurted smoothly._

 _Ducky chuckled, and made to put a reassuring hand on my uninjured shoulder, his brows furrowing slightly when I unintentionally recoiled._

 _"Ah, it's just that you haven't shown much curiosity thus far. It's just a surprise is all – I think you'll find that our Tony doesn't react all too appropriately to surprises." Ducky raised his eyebrows at Tony, his eyes twinkling._

 _DiNozzo cleared his throat, looking more than a little abashed._

 _I couldn't help but grin. He scratched his neck and continued, "Miss Abby Scuito is one of our best and brightest –" he began, only to be cut off by the arrival of McGee who spouted an indignant "Hey!"_

 _"I said one of our best and brightest, McGoo." Tony said with a smile that would put the Cheshire cat to shame. "Maybe if your ears were as big as that brain of yours, you'd be able to spend less time fussing and more time_ _listen_ _-ing."_

 _McGee frowned, not entirely sure whether he'd been insulted or complimented._

 _He turned to me and his expression shifted from somewhat irritable to friendly._

 _"Abby…" He glanced fleetingly at Tony, perhaps sensing an interruption, but Tony just winked, "is our brilliant forensic scientist. She has her own lab which is where she's waiting for us."_

 _He turned to Gibbs._

 _"So…Boss? Are we going?" McGee asked tentatively._

 _Gibbs cast at Ducky, who nodded, and then down at me, "Yep. You ready?" He asked._

 _My stomach turned uncomfortably. I was not. "Why are we going to Abby's lab?"_

 _"Well," Tony began, "you've probably noticed by now that our charming work colleagues haven't quite gasped the meaning of minding their own business –_ _I'm looking at you Sarah_ _–and so, we've opted to take you to our resident forensic scientist for a little… peace and quiet."_

 _McGee made a noise that sounded like a snigger covered up not so convincingly with a hacking cough, prompting Tony to whack him exaggeratedly on the back._

 _"Come, come! No need to look so worried. Abby doesn't bite." Ducky said cheerfully, as he and Tony (who had finished assaulting McGee), helped me off the desk and into the elevator._

 _I can't say I bought too much into Ducky's attempt at reassuring me._

 _He seemed much too entertained._

 _As we all sidled in, with Tony still supporting most of my weight, I realised that Gibbs wasn't here. Just as the lift doors slid shut, I caught a glimpse of his silver hair headed off in the direction of the stairs._

 _"Where's he going?" I questioned, feeling an irrational sensation of relief spread through me._

 _"Probably up to the Director's office to brief her on what's happened." McGee replied, pressing the button for Abby's lab._

 _"Oh…" I felt the familiar prickles of panic as I mulled over the idea of the Director of NCIS getting involved. This is not going to end well._

 _About a minute later, we were out of the elevator and being ambushed by NCIS's incredibly enthusiastic forensic specialist, Abby Sciuto. Meeting the bubbly Goth scientist couldn't have been more of a surprise, which I suppose was what Ducky, Tony and McGee had intended._

 _I think it took about ten minutes for my eyebrows to come down._

 _Abby, it seemed, was set in gear to animatedly greet everyone present, but was cut short by Ducky._

 _"Abigail, it's extremely wonderful to see you too, but we have a visitor here who is in need of urgent medical attention." At this, Abby's attention shifted to me, her expression immediately changed from one of excitement to something a little short of horror._

 _"Oh my God, sorry, of course! Come in, guys!"_

 _"Thank you, Abigail." Responded Ducky, as he helped me into the lab with Tony's continued assistance._

 _"She's so young!" Abby whispered to McGee, who nodded his agreement, as I sat myself down on the table. I couldn't help but flinch when Ducky went to take off my jacket once more, but I managed to stay still._

 _"Oh my God…" Abby's mouth dropped open in shock._

 _"Why? How bad is it?" I asked, almost dreading the answer. I looked down at my shoulder and immediately stiffened at the dark bruising and the unnatural bump protruding from the joint._

 _"McSqueamish is looking pale. Who thinks he'll McVomit?" Tony joked, his voice a little weaker than before. McGee shot Tony a glare._

 _"I agree, it does not look too good at all." Ducky admitted grimly, putting on a pair of white latex gloves, seemingly oblivious to the two agent's sparring session. "I'm just checking the surrounding tissue for any unusual signs of damage."_

 _He then proceeded to carefully feel around the inflamed area, patiently giving me a few seconds respite each time he prodded an area that made me cry out. By the time he had finished I was thoroughly exhausted._

 _Abby's brow crinkled with concern and went to stand next to me, whilst shooting pointed looks at Tony._

 _"Isn't there anything you can give her for the pain, Ducky?" Tony asked anxiously._

 _"Emily, look at me." Ducky said kindly, waiting patiently for me to do so._

 _"This isn't going to be pleasant. I'd advise you to take something for the pain, but it's entirely your decision."_

 _I shook my head wearily. "No thanks, I'd rather everything be as clear as possible for the time being. Even though I can tell that I'm gonna regret saying that in a few minutes."_

 _God I was tired._

 _Tony let out a short laugh. Everyone stared. I jumped. "Sorry," he looked embarrassed "I just realised that's the most you've said since you've gotten here."_

 _I smiled, "I guess I'm not much of a talker."_

 _"Like someone else we know." Abby grinned._

 _Ducky sighed. "Indeed. Okay Anthony, I'm going to require your assistance. I need you to stand over here –" He motioned to the spot on the table directly opposite where I sat, "and you're going to need to keep our friend here as still as possible, and you're going to need to do it well because I can tell you now that what I'm about to do is not going to be pleasant."_

 _Tony looked as apprehensive as I feel. This is going to suck._

 _Ducky turned his attention to Abby, "Abigail, do you by chance have any ice packs?"_

 _"Sure thing Duck-man. I'll go get 'em."_

 _"Now, this won't be very enjoyable, but hopefully if done with haste we can get it over with quickly. And you, m'dear, can tell us what all of this is about." He raised an inquisitive eyebrow._

 _I nodded, looking away. All I could think about was kissing this day goodbye._

 _Once Abby had arrive back on the scene along with her special Limited-Edition Halloween icepacks (which are apparently a thing. Who knew?) Tony got into position, guided by Ducky, and ended up sitting cross-legged on the table with me half leaning against his chest for support._

 _I laughed despite myself, "This feels ridiculous."_

 _Abby giggled, turning her phone around playfully in her hands, "Is it wrong that I really really want to take a photo of you guys?"_

 _"No. Put the camera away, Abby." Tony replied, amused._

 _"We should really have this X-rayed first, but since we don't have the equipment..." Ducky mused, "…Hmm, although … everything seems in order."_

 _He positioned himself in front of me, gently took my arm and began to slowly rotate my shoulder. Immediately, the pain spiked to a much higher level than it ever had when I'd been fleeing NCIS._

 _My entire body was screaming at me to get away. If I was being honest, I hadn't expected it to hurt so much. I was faintly aware that I was leaning further backwards in a vain attempt to distance myself from what Ducky was doing._

 _But every time I would lean away, Tony would counterbalance it by pushing himself forwards with a few apologetic words that at the time I couldn't quite grasp, leaving me in the same position I began in._

 _After a while –god, it actually couldn't have been more than a couple minutes, it was becoming too much and I began struggling to move off the table and away from the medical examiner, but Tony was too strong, and the struggling only made it hurt worse._

 _Someone entered the room, but my eyes were watering so much so that I couldn't quite see who it was. A kaleidoscopic array tinted with bits of silver? Gibbs? Another stab of pain shot overtook me, and a scream was ripped from my lips._

 _Abby stepped forwards. "Ducky, can't you take a break?" She sounded distressed._

 _He replied, his words coming out irregular and strained. "Not yet, Abigail. It's almost back in. Ha!" He exclaimed as a faint popping noise sounded throughout the lab. Abby and McGee cringed._

 _There was instant relief. The pain had dulled down again magnificently, and I was overcome with a wave of penetrating fatigue. I fell back against Tony, whose own relief was practically radiating from him in waves._

 _"That should do the trick." Ducky said triumphantly, as he stepped away, pulling his gloves off as he went and throwing them into the nearest waste bin._

 _"Emily?" Abby asked hesitantly after briefly conversing with the person I could now see to be Gibbs._

 _I intended to answer, but instead of words, all I could manage to get out was a choked sob._

 _She paused, before continuing somewhat reluctantly. "I know you're worn out, but Gibbs wants to talk to you. It's important." She looked really apologetic. Abby's sweet._

 _McGee raised his eyebrows in surprise. "But she's exhausted boss. Maybe she should get some sleep first?"_

 _"I think McBedtime's right about this, Gibbs." I felt DiNozzo make as if to get up, and I leaned forward to allow him the space._

 _He let out a yawn of almost comical duration as he moved around the table, keeping one steadying hand on my good shoulder the entire time, before taking a seat next to me and allowing me to lean on him. "It's been a long day."_

 _Ducky frowned. "Really, Jethro. Can't it wait until tomorrow? Look at her, for Christ's sake."_

 _I probably did look a mess, I certainly felt like one. But right then and there, I didn't care. I couldn't even muster up the energy to feel curious about whatever it was Gibb's so clearly wanted to talk to me about. Tony was warm and I was so tired. I could just close my eyes and pretend I was back home, sleeping in my own bed…._

 _There was slight hesitation when Gibbs replied but not enough, I sensed, to prevent me from having to move. "I know Duck, but I wouldn't ask unless it was important."_

 _Ducky nodded, if ever so begrudgingly._

 _Gibbs looked at me now, his eyes softening slightly, "It really won't take long." He promised._

 _I nodded. It took all my strength to separate myself from my make-shift DiNozzo pillow, but I somehow managed. If anything, I hopped off the table probably a little too quickly judging from the way my muscles protested, and then proceeded to follow Gibbs out of Abby's lab and into the elevator._

 _The only good thing about exhaustion, it seems, is that the nerves I would have suffered at the prospect of being an enclosed space with Gibbs appear to have fallen to sleep._

 _They have more sense than I do._

 _"Not claustrophobic are ya?" He asked suddenly._

 _Well, this should be fun._

 _"No…" I replied, my nerves rousing slightly from their brief slumber._

 _The elevator doors grinded shut and I expected Gibbs to select a floor, but he didn't. Instead, he pushed a button I hadn't noticed before, causing the lights to gradually flicker into darkness._

 _He turned to me._ _Okay now I'm nervous._

 _"How are you doing?" He asked, his voice and expression betraying nothing._

 _Small-talk? That wasn't what I was expecting…_

 _I frowned slightly, and looked around the small space as an excuse to avoid making eye contact. The sudden absence of light made the cold metal of the lift look incredibly eerie._

 _"Well, you know, I've definitely been better."_

 _He sighed and leaned his back against the chilly metal wall. I relaxed a little at this, feeling slightly more at ease now that he'd turned away._

 _"You should probably get Ducky to check out those bruises."_

 _I felt a small pang of something akin to fear in my chest. "What bruises?" I ask carefully, getting the feeling that he wasn't referring to the bruise on my shoulder._

 _That's when gave me the look – the look I knew to be the legendary 'Gibbs death stare', the same one that Tony and McGee admitted they were so adamantly afraid of._

 _"Gee, I don't know the bruises all over your stomach and back, maybe?"_

 _My heart all but skipped a beat. I turned to face him._

 _"How could you possibly know about those?" I asked him, heatedly._

 _He shrugged as though it was inconsequential. I stared at him for a moment longer before sliding down to sit on the floor. I leant my head to rest against the cool metal._ _Maybe I could just sleep here?_

 _I sighed. "What did you want to talk about?" My voice came out sounding about as dejected as I felt._

 _To my surprise, he joins me down on the floor, still leaving the same amount of space between us._

 _"I talked to the Director, and she has decided that you will be a priority-case from now on. This means that we will be able to help you for as long as you let us. You'll also stay at my house._

 _Understand?"_

 _I begin to nod slowly, but then something quite obvious occurs to me._

 _"Wait? I haven't told you anything about, well,_ _anything_ _yet so how can this suddenly be a priority case? For all you know, I'm just some crazy girl who tried to run from three NCIS officers earlier today."_

 _He turned to me in surprise, or what I could only assume to be surprise. Gibbs is definitely difficult to read. I was all set to just ignore the look, but then suddenly I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what he'd been so shocked by. I was suddenly amused._

 _"Let me guess, that's the most you've heard me speak?" I asked, rolling my eyes._

 _He laughed. It changed his features. "Yah, you'll get tired of hearing that. Believe me."_

 _I couldn't help smiling. "But I suppose you're not going to answer my question?"_

 _"Nah" he sighed, "it's too late now. Tomorrow."_

 _He stood up and his eyes locked with mine, for the first time I saw that he looked slightly abashed. "For the record," he started, "I am sorry I hit you. I misjudged the situation. Won't happen again."_

 _I nodded. "It's okay. I shouldn't have continued running."_

 _"It's not okay," he said, looking at me almost wistfully, "and why did you?"_

 _"Keep running, you mean?" I questioned sleepily, staring into space._

 _He nodded._

 _"You announced who you were?" I asked, yawning._

 _Another nod._

 _I shrugged, once again forgetting about my shoulder._

 _"I panicked, I s'pose. I didn't hear you. Saw guns and just assumed you're were here to kill me."_

 _A more substantial pause this time. My eyes were closed so I couldn't see his expression._

 _"I think it's time for you to get some sleep." He said softly. My eyelids felt like concrete, but I opened them in time to see him reaching out a hand to pull me up; I grasped it with my right hand, relying on his strength to pull me up since I had so little of my own._

 _He reached across for the button to restart the elevator and pressed it. Light flooded the small space, and the doors sifted open to reveal Abby holding in her hand what looked to be her icepacks._

 _"Don't forget these or Ducky'll freak." She said cheerfully, handing them over to me. "Hey Gibbs. You going home? Where's Emily staying because I have a spare room at my house and I don't mind having a guest over if – "_

 _Gibbs cut her short. "It's okay Abs, she's coming home with me."_

 _"Oh," she looked put-out and then an idea occurred to her, "well, if you need anything at all, just call me." Here –" she said rummaging around her bag and retrieving a small piece of crumpled plain paper and a pen, "this is my number" she scrawled the digits hurriedly, and handed me the paper "don't hesitate to call."_

 _I suddenly felt a massive surge of gratitude towards Abby in that moment, prompting me to do something I usually never would've thought to do. I hugged her. She made a soft noise of surprise, but returned the hug enthusiastically. "Thanks Abby, it means a lot." I felt physically and emotionally drained. I could have fallen asleep right then and there, but at the sound of Tony and McGee's squabbling filtering into the room, I forced myself to pull away._

 _"I should thank Ducky, and…and Tony." I was finding it difficult to organize my thoughts. I began stumbling slightly towards the lab, my legs not working quite as well as they should. I think I was swaying, and then the floor suddenly seemed a lot closer than before, but Gibbs must have sensed my instability for he was swiftly in front of me._

 _Momentarily forgetting about my injury, he placed his hands on both of my shoulders in an attempt to steady me; the contact resulting in a severe twinge of pain that made my eyes water._

 _Without warning, everything seemed much further away. I must have yelled out loudly in shock or something because a moment later McGee and Tony were running out into the corridor, closely followed by Ducky._

 _"Boss? We heard yelling, what's wrong?" McGee called._

 _"A little help, DiNozzo." Gibbs huffed, I was having a little trouble staying upright._

 _Tony's mouth fell open in surprise and he rushed forwards. "Yeah, of course. Where're we going, boss?"_

 _"My house." Gibbs grunted, as Tony took the majority of my weight._

 _DiNozzo looked at me sympathetically, "I'm gonna have to carry you." He said, but I got the feeling he was still waiting for my permission._

 _I made a faint noise of assent along with a quick nod of my head. My ego aside, I saw no way around it this time._

 _"When was the last time you slept, Emily?" Abby asked quietly, her voice came from somewhere behind me._

 _"Umm, I don't know." My voice came out softer than I had intended "I haven't – probably not for a couple days."_

 _There was a small pause._

 _"When was the last time you ate…" Someone said, possibly McGee_

 _"About the same – couple days, I think..."_

 _Gibbs sighed, exchanging a concerned glance with Ducky._

 _"Okay," Tony exhaled, sounding somewhat strained, "up we go."_

 _He hoisted me up, jostling my shoulder and unintentionally igniting the pain in my stomach from the bruises in the process. I groaned, my fists clenching tightly around his arm._

 _"I know, I'm sorry." He said apologetically, wincing in sympathy._

 _"Oh my…" Ducky breathed slowly, "what are all these?" He was staring intently at my stomach, and I slowly became aware that my top was no longer covering the part of my skin that was littered with bruises._

 _Everyone was looking at me. I could feel my face heating up._ _Not right now_ _, was all I thought. I couldn't do this right now. I had nothing left to give. I shook my head, feeling my eyes close of their own accord._

 _"Uhh, I think she's done for today, Ducky." Sounded Tony from above me._

 _I must have drifted away sometime after that because the journey from NCIS to Gibbs' house for me was punctuated by a long sequence of irrelevant noises – the elevator shedding floors, the slam of a car door, the choppy feeling of being carried up the stairs, and then I was dimly aware of being lowered gently into bed._


	2. Bruises

I awoke with a start, my heart thudding rapidly in my chest. My eyes snapped open and I stared around the room, not understanding what had happened, waiting to remember where I was, until - _smack_ \- it hit me like a train, _Gibbs… NCIS… Tony…Abby…McGee…Ducky…wait Ducky? The bruises! Crap._

It all came back. I propelled myself up, my body protesting angrily. I was breathing heavily now, it all seemed like so much. How was I supposed to explain this? I barely understood everything that had happened, and now I have to organize it, shuffle it around, _relive it_ in order for it to make sense to other people? I couldn't do that, _couldn't do that, couldn't do that_ …

I realised I was shaking and at once, I knew that if I didn't calm myself down I'd be in serious trouble. _Okay, think … How to calm down? What do I want? What do I need to do right now?_

My stomach growled deeply as if on cue, suddenly reminding me of a more primitive requirement – one that I hadn't enforced for days, and I latched on to the feeling.

 _Find something to eat first, panic later. My new motto,_ I thought grimly as I waited patiently for my heartbeat to slow.

A couple minutes later, I headed downstairs, thinking about how nice it would be to shower first, but knowing that I'd be much more likely to collapse than to do any cleaning if I didn't find something to eat.

I hesitantly poked my head around the wall, checking to see if anyone was there; but it was all clear, and so I headed off in what I hoped was the direction of the kitchen.

 _Ha, success! And also empty…Gibbs must be out._ After a few minutes of raiding Gibbs' cupboards – which is ordinarily something I would have felt extremely awkward about under any other circumstances, but in that moment I was too hungry to care – and another minute or so at the tap, gulping down large quantities of cold water, I was finally able to settle down at the table with a huge bowl of cereal.

I don't think I even noticed what brand or anything, I basically a half starved animal at that point, shovelling down spoonful after spoonful of … _Cheerio's?... Muesli? …_ Even helping myself to a second and third bowl.

When I was done, I left the bowl in the sink along with the spoon.

 _I'll clean that up later;_ my stomach sinking slightly at the thought of _later…_

I could feel my panic levels rising. _Concentrate, Emily, one thing at a time? What's next?_

Showering, in fact, was next on the list of my priorities, and it's what I did. I had noticed – before leaving my room earlier – a neatly folded up towel sitting on a wooden chair.

After chancing a smell and detecting the scent of washing powder; I assumed it to be clean and brought it with me into the bathroom.

Showering took me about forty minutes – quite a bit longer than usual because I had to account for (and avoid further aggravating) the number of injuries I had recently acquired. But I still hadn't taken as long as I'd expected myself to be. I dried myself off but abruptly stopped short at the realisation that the only clothes I had were the ones I'd spent the last two days in.

I groaned, _what the hell was I going to do now?_

 _Okay, don't panic. You'll be fine._ I told myself, as with the towel still wrapped securely around me, I stepped into the room I suspected to be Gibbs'. I checked first to make sure it was indeed a Gibbs free zone, and then sneaked my way like a burglar in an old fashioned movie over to the wardrobe.

Upon opening it, I was greeted by the sight of – you guessed it – clothes! T-shirts, a couple of jumpers, socks, _boxers_ … I rolled my eyes at the absurd urge I had to laugh.

I glanced worriedly up at the shirts, eyeing them as if they had the ability to unexpectedly wriggle loose of their coat-hangery prisons and pounce at me, suffocating me for ever daring to disturb them in the first place – No _that's enough,_ I told my imagination sternly.

 _We have quite a few things to be frightened of without adding 'clothes' to that list._

I took a deep breath, glanced behind me for good measure, feeling as though Gibbs could easily have sneaked up on me without me noticing, and then grabbed a black t-shirt, a pair of socks, a pair of boxers… _I hate this,_ I was aware of thinking as I picked them up.

Hard part over, I then pretty unashamedly rooted though his draws searching for a wearable pair of pants, overlooking the jeans and going straight for the black sweatpants, praying they'd fit me.

I then headed back to 'my' room, shutting the door behind me. I'd momentarily considered getting dressed in Gibbs' room, but I knew I'd be too terrified of him returning without me hearing.

I threw the towel on the bed and as quickly as I could whilst minding not to cause myself unnecessary pain, shoved the t-shirt on over my head, pulled on the underwear (turning them inside out for good measure), shimmied my way into the sweatpants, and put on the socks.

I looked at myself in the mirror on top of the cabinet, and was pleasantly surprised to see that I did not look like hell in a hand basket as I had previously suspected. The pants were a little loose, but didn't look too bad, the same with the shirt.

My face, on the other hand, was a different story. I moved closer to the glass to get a better look. I recoiled as I inspected the bruise that I had gotten from Gibbs, the memory flooding back. My entire cheek was a purplish/blue splodge. I groaned at the prospect of walking around looking like that… _Makeup can only do so much._

I met the grey eyes of my reflection and studied myself for a moment longer, just staring; my eyes after a moment moving to my usually brown hair, now a near black and sodden wet. I noticed it was making the front of my Gibbs' shirt wet, and sighed, grabbing my towel again and proceeding to dry it the best I could, making a mental note to find a _damn bobble as soon as possible_.

Then I returned to the kitchen to make good on my promise to clean the bowl I had used. I had just finished drying it and putting it away (along with the spoon), when there came the sound of a key in the lock, alerting me to someone at the front door. I froze, listening intently.

I could only assume that it was Gibbs – _please let it be Gibbs –_ but just in case, I hastily snatched up the knife that had been lying on the table in front of me, and I crept along keeping parallel to the wall and making sure to keep well out of the front door's line of sight. I was still straining to hear, but my heartbeat was making it increasingly difficult to detect sound.

The front door opened, which I heard only because of the slight creak it emitted, whoever it was who entered seemed to be moving around incredibly silently. The panic was swelling in my chest. I held my breath. I didn't know what to do. I was gripping the handle of the knife extremely tightly, desperately hoping not to have to use it.

And then.

Footsteps. Quiet and soft, but they seemed to be heading towards the kitchen. My stomach dropped. I had to keep a clear head, the last thing I wanted to do was overreact and accidentally kill an NCIS officer in his own home.

I had a few seconds until whoever it was would step into the kitchen, and so I did the only thing I could think of that would leave me enough time to fully analyse the situation. I took a step back, and then one step out so that I was visible from the doorway. I had my good arm half outstretched in a defensive position, ready to push away any possible attackers.

My heartbeat was thundering along, my shoulder was beginning to ache from how tense I was. I was deathly afraid of who I'd see around the corner, but I had thrust myself out only to lock eyes with _Tony_.

There was a split-second pause, with DiNozzo, wide-eyed, his gaze flickering to the knife in my hand, and then at me. I blinked, my hand automatically letting go of the knife, the sweet feeling of relief once again overtaking me as I all but barrelled towards him and enveloped him in a hug.

He gave a slight yelp of surprise as I all but flew into him.

"What's wrong?" He questioned, sounding concerned, but wrapping his arms around me all the same. "Are you okay?"

"I heard someone at the door…I didn't … I picked up the knife just in case…" I mumbled, trembling a little from the all too recent adrenaline high. I pulled away.

"Oh," he responded, looking guilty, "well, I thought you'd be asleep still, so I was trying to be quiet."

I let out a small exhale. "It's okay. I'm just glad it's you and not some deranged lunatic."

He nodded serenely, eyes glinting. "I've heard that from many women." He then shifted his gaze to the knife lying on the floor. "Interesting choice of weapon. Very Scary Movie-esque."

I rolled my eyes, "What can I say? It was a difficult choice between that and the spoon I just put away." I was grateful for the opportunity to lighten the mood, but then I remembered that I had questions to ask.

"So what are you doing here? And where's Gibbs?" I queried, earning an amused look from the agent.

"Curious now, I see?" He grinned impishly.

I narrowed my eyes in irritation, the adrenaline giving me a little extra confidence, "Curious enough to beat it out of you." I murmured.

He chuckled, but continued all the same. "Well, since our fearless leader is stuck at NCIS, I have been assigned the task of coming here with this…" he motioned to a black bag lying beside him on the floor, he'd seemingly dropped it there when I'd almost attacked him with a knife.

I gave him a scathing look. "And what's _in_ the bag?" I prompted.

"Someone's impatient today," he tutted.

I folded my arms and groaned. "I could have just _looked_ in the bag about five times already you realise?"

He raised his eyebrows, feigning innocence "Well, I'd gladly tell you what's in the bag if I thought you needed them" he started "but it looks like you've already found yourself quite the outfit already…"

I pulled a face, "I'd just showered…I had nothing else to wear!" I shot him my fiercest glare and deliberately pronounced each word slowly and delicately – "Are there clothes I can wear in the bag?"

"Why yes there are, however did you know? But before we get to that, I have a question…"

I sighed, nodding.

"Even the underwear?" He asked, eyes shining in amusement.

I felt my face heat up.

Tony laughed.

"Don't tell him!" I pleaded desperately. "Tony, promise you won't tell Gibbs?!"

There was the sound of the door closing behind us,

"Tell Gibbs what?" Came a gruff voice.

I felt my eyes widen at Tony. I'm pretty sure my face was burning up.

He looked at me and then looked back at Gibbs somewhat longingly, hesitated and then rushed out a semi-convincing "Nothing boss."

I let out a sigh, closing my eyes in relief, before turning around to face Gibbs.

"Tony said you were stuck at NCIS?" I said shooting a sideways glance at DiNozzo, wondering if he'd been pulling my leg about that too…

"I was, but then I came here to get you." He responded simply, his eyes sweeping over the knife on the floor, before returning to me.

I rubbed the back of my neck self-consciously. "Get me for what?" I asked, not entirely certain that I wanted to know the answer.

"Ducky wants to take a look at you." He motioned to my stomach. "And we have some questions for you."

My voice seemed to have dried up, "N-now?" I managed to choke out.

Gibbs nodded.

I looked at Tony for assistance, hoping he could stall. He caught my eye and shook his head. "I know you want to put off going back to NCIS," he said understandingly, "but it's important that we get everything straightened up."

I understood that well enough, but it didn't mean I was at all happy about it.

"Have you eaten?" Gibbs queried.

"Yeah." I shifted nervously, suddenly feeling a little queasy. "I also had to borrow some of your clothes after I showered, um, I hope that's okay…" I let the sentence drop, avoiding Gibb's eyes. _Damn it, I was turning red again._

But then I heard a chuckle. Raising my head curiously, I saw that Gibbs was still staring at me, but his expression was one of amusement. Tony had that impish grin back too.

I frowned, my face still flushed.

After a moment, Gibbs shook his head, "Don't worry about it," he assured me, continuing to observe me with small traces of humour still left in his expression. "I meant to leave you a message telling you to help yourself to anything you might need anyway."

Still feeling incredibly awkward and all too eager to change the subject, I nodded. "I guess we should be getting going then?"

I moved past Gibbs towards the front door. I was just stepping outside when I heard Gibbs say something to DiNozzo. I listened closely, hoping to catch the next sentence.

"Even the underwear?" Gibbs muttered curiously to DiNozzo.

Tony spluttered a laugh, hastily turning it into a cough that would've given McGee a run for his money as I turned back to shoot them a glare.

"Hey boss, she's damn near got the Gibbs stare down." I heard Tony chuckle.

I almost growled.

 _Being back at NCIS, feeling fully rested and not half as terrified isn't too bad_ , I mused to myself as we waited for the elevator. We were on our way to the morgue to see Ducky; a place Tony had seemed oddly hesitant about me visiting, but I assured him that I didn't mind.

If anything I was morbidly curious.

The elevator announced its presence with a slight _ding_ , and I stepped in, Gibbs and Tony following behind. Gibbs selected the floor for what I assumed to be the morgue, and then Tony stepped forwards and pressed the button I remembered to be for Abby's lab.

I frowned. _He wasn't coming?_ I was suddenly markedly more afraid, my stomach sinking. I wanted to ask him to stay, something I was still working up the courage to do when his stop came. The lift doors opened to reveal the corridor leading to the lab.

"Wait…" I blurted, before he had even begun to move out.

"Everything okay?" He glanced at me, looking concerned.

"Could you…stay? Just for this?" I asked, feeling extremely awkward.

DiNozzo shifted his gaze towards Gibbs, silently asking permission.

Gibbs just raised his eyebrows, and then shrugged. "Sure DiNozzo can stay unless he has anything more important to attend to?"

Tony shook his head, the famous grin back in place "Not anything I can't attend to later, boss. You know me, always working and all."

He stayed put and the doors slid closed once more. The elevator started up again, and I looked up at Tony. He sensed my gaze. "Thanks." I muttered.

He nodded, smiling. "De nada."

"Hey Ducky!" Tony announced as we walked through the automatic doors. _Geeze it's chilly in here, I_ thought, instinctually going to fold my arms in an attempt to preserve body heat, before remembering my injury and instantly relaxing them back by my side.

 _I'm sure that looked natural._

I looked around at the steel medical tables, finding myself simultaneously relieved and disappointed to discover they were empty.

"Tony, Jethro – and ah! Emily, I hope you're feeling better?" His asked, eyes scanning my face. I noticed him grimacing slightly in sympathy as he took in the discolouration from the bruise.

"I'm feeling better," I replied, "I also meant to thank you for helping me yesterday." I said with a small smile, "but I guess I was more tired than I realised."

Ducky returned the smile, shaking his head kindly "No m'dear, no need to thank me. I'm just glad I could help." Then his expression grew a little bit more serious. "Now," he said, "If you'd be so kind as to lie here," he motioned to the steel table closest to him. It was the only one, I saw, that had a small pillow for neck support.

 _Oh no_ , _I do not like this._ "Do I have to lie down?" I asked, feeling very hesitant about doing so.

"I'm afraid so, but it should just take a moment." He replied reassuringly.

Tony shot me a comforting expression and I reluctantly hopped up on the platform and lay down.

The metal proved to be about as uncomfortable as it was cold and clinical. I felt way too exposed. With my first instinct being to sit up, I was having trouble staying put. I didn't like my sudden restricted view.

Suddenly, Gibbs ringtone went off. I raised my head to see him motion at Ducky, and walk out of the room to take the call.

I used Gibb's exit as an excuse to try to raise myself to a sitting position.

However, Ducky, whose attention had previously been on Gibbs, turned back to me. He raised an eyebrow expectantly and I groaned quietly, but lowered myself back down on the table.

"That's better," Ducky nodded appreciatively, "now if you could just roll up your shirt so I can see the extent of the bruising, we can soon have you on your way."

I did as instructed, wincing as my back made contact with the ice cold metal table.

Tony let out a low whistle as the bruises caught the light, "What happened for you to get those?" He asked gently.

Ducky came a little closer, and began feeling lightly around the area, focusing his attention on the left hand side of my stomach for the time being.

I repressed the urge to sit up, instead settling for turning my head in the direction of Tony's voice. "There were a couple of guys that turned up before you, Gibbs and McGee." I began; I was all too aware of Ducky's ministrations and couldn't help tensing up.

It showed in my voice.

Tony moved a little closer so that I could see him better. He nodded at me encouragingly to continue.

I took a deep breath and tried my best to concentrate on what I was saying. "Um, it was pretty late… I'd been out walking for around ten minutes when I noticed these two guys heading straight towards me… There wasn't really anyone else around, so I thought it best to turn around and go another way, which I did," I added, taking a breath before continuing.

"I crossed the street so that I was on the other side, and headed down a side lane, but when they appeared at the top of the road, I knew for sure that I was in trouble. I basically just sprinted as fast as I could, but I dunno, I guess they were faster." I felt a pang of fear at this, I was reminding myself of things I didn't want to think about….

"They caught up to you?" Tony asked, his expression was blank, but his voice had an edge to it.

I nodded, "I'd been too busy running to realise that one of the guys had run around to cut me off, and so I basically ran headfirst into him." I said somewhat bitterly. I was still mentally kicking myself for that.

"He threw me down pretty hard, I think that's when I dislocated my shoulder…Then they started kicking and punching me…"

I cleared my throat, reluctant to continue, but forcing myself all the same. "Sometime during it they started talking about my parents, which why I didn't believe it was just a random attack…"

Suddenly, I was overcome by a memory. _A man's voice accompanied by the click of a switchblade and the gleam of silver…_

"I think one of them had a knife, he told me he was going to kill me…"

During my story, Ducky had been going very slowly and cautiously, but then almost without warning he touched upon a sore spot and I cried out, flinching violently away, somehow raising myself back to a sitting position.

"Em, are you okay?" Tony was closer than before, he put a reassuring hand on my good shoulder. I leaned slightly into him, but I was too busy glaring angrily at the medical doctor to answer, never mind register his new use of nickname.

The pain had subsided, but the shock of it was still very much alive.

Ducky looked apologetic. "I'm sorry." He said, but motioned back to the table all the same.

I sighed, lowering myself down again.

Ducky finished carefully checking the bruises on my left side without any major incident, and moved onto the right side. His fingers probed around, occasionally causing me to cry out every now and again, but I remained horizontal. When he'd finally finished, I realised two things: the first being that Gibbs had returned from his phone call, and the second being that sometime during the examination I'd started clutching onto Tony's arm.

"…yes, yes, Jethro, physically, everything is in perfect working order which is miraculous really, considering the ferocity of the attack –"

After reassuring me that I would live, Ducky had moved to the far corner of the room and was now conversing with Gibbs. I had surreptitiously positioned myself in a way that meant I could still hear snippets of the conversation from where I sat on the table. Tony was beside me, and I was somewhat aware that he was studying me every now and again in a curious manner, but I was too intent on my eavesdropping to fully take notice.

"– but psychologically," Ducky continued gravely, "…let's just say that the ordeal has no doubt taken a toll."

"Meaning?" Gibbs pressed.

"Trust, Jethro, trust." Ducky sighed, "I'd advise caution when pressing her for more information - push too hard and she'll shut down."

Gibbs made a move as if to glance over at where I was sat and I momentarily cast my eyes down to the floor, only chancing a look up when I heard the older agent speaking in a slightly lowered tone. I had to strain to hear it, and even then I only caught the name "…DiNozzo" phrased as though a question.

Ducky nodded: he had lowered his voice to match Gibbs' and so his next sentence was difficult to catch. "Yes, I'd suggest that letting Anthony handle … best course of action. She seems to have…."

But the rest of Ducky's words were drowned out by Tony, whose curiosity, it seemed, had suddenly gotten the better of him.

"How did you get away?"

Having been absorbed in Ducky and Gibb's conversation, I started at the question, and turned to see him watching me intently.

 _"_ I was lucky..." I replied simply, knowing I'd have to go into more detail, but feeling unwilling to.

"Lucky? Lucky how?" Tony pressed, looking puzzled.

I took a deep breath, a large part of me still curiously invested in the other conversation, but I forced myself to continue. He needed to know.

"There was someone else out walking that night - two friends I think, and I guess they heard me yelling and decided to investigate. Anyway, they stumbled upon the alley where I was having the crap kicked out of me and I don't remember much of the specifics, but one of them must have called out, maybe something about phoning the police, and that distracted the guys long enough for me to tear out of there as fast as I could."

"I'm sorry that happened to you…" He said gently, his eyebrows furrowed. "I guess it explains why you reacted the way you did with us."

I nodded, and then immediately a question of my own burned to the forefront of my mind. I glanced up at Tony, my own expression knitting into one of confusion. "Wait…what exactly did I do to attract the attention of NCIS in the first place?"

Tony raised his eyebrows, and let out a brief exhale. "Well" he began, taking a seat beside me on the table, "that was just your bog-standard mix up, I'm afraid. We'd been investigating a crime scene not too far from where you were, and one of the witnesses claimed they'd seen a white male emerge from the victim's house wearing a black hoodie, jeans, you know, the basic getup you'd associate with someone who didn't want to attract attention…" He cleared his throat, "…course at the time that just seemed like useless information, because well, it had the potential to be anyone, but then –"

" – but then you saw me." I finished up.

"Not so much _saw_ ," Tony disclosed, his voice low "…we actually got an anonymous tip informing us that there was an individual matching the witness's description a few blocks down heading away from the scene: when we caught up to you with the intention to talk, you immediately bolted, leaving us with no choice but to chase after you."

There was a heavy silence, in which Tony looked conflicted. He fidgeted a little with the collar of his shirt before continuing. "None of us had any idea that you were hurt, or, well, not a guy… otherwise we would have gone a little easier on the approach….I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm _sorry_." He shifted his head sideways to look at me, his eyes touching over the bruise on my face.

I shook my head. "You don't need to apologise, you were only doing your jobs. Besides, Gibbs already beat you to it." I couldn't help the grin that spread across my features at the expression of pure disbelief blossoming across the young agent's face.

"The boss _apologised_?" Tony asked, seemingly awestruck. "Like, full on, actually said the words 'I'm sorry'?"

I nodded, "Yep." But Tony still seemed incredulous. I cocked my head in amusement. "You seem to have a hard time believing this."

Spluttering slightly, DiNozzo eventually managed to squeeze out a somewhat coherent sentence. "You haven't spent enough time around Gibbs to know what he's like when it comes to stuff like this. The boss-man has his own set of _rules_ for things."

"Rules? Like for what?" I asked, puzzled.

"For everything: friends, enemies, you name it; even just miscellaneous things – rule number nine is _don't go anywhere without a knife_."

"So what's his rule about apologies?" _I'm not usually one for gossip, but I had to admit this was pretty interesting._

Tony opened up his mouth to reply, but was beaten to it by the silver haired agent who I hadn't even realised had finished his conversation with the medical examiner (who was now nowhere to be seen).

"Rule number six: _Never say you're sorry. It's a sign of weakness_."

I felt myself frowning in disagreement at this. I also felt Gibbs' stare.

I pushed myself to say what I'd been thinking. "Not all the time."

It came out a little more defensively than I'd intended.

Gibbs didn't say anything, and his expression remained as unreadable as ever.

My frown deepened. "It depends on the situation. Right?" I directed at Tony, who had been silently and apprehensively observing the exchange between his boss and I.

"Well…I suppose context is always helpful," he began, cautiously eyeing Gibbs, "but boss' rules are meant as more of a guideline than anything else."

"Is that right, DiNozzo?"

Tony let out a loud nervous laugh, clearly unsure as how best to continue. Gibb's expression was leaning more towards amusement than anger, but I wasn't willing to place any firm bets either way.

"Well, I wouldn't steak my life on it." He chuckled uneasily, his thoughts seemingly running along the same line as mine.

Gibbs took a few steps towards the table until he was a little more than an arm's reach away, and then allowed the full force of his stare to fall on Tony. _Man, he could be intimidating…_

"I take it that you two were having an interesting talk?" Gibbs questioned with a small smile.

"Actually yeah…" Tony hopped off the table, work mode instantly activated. His nervousness gradually dissipating the more he spoke.

"Em was just telling me about the night that she was attacked, boss." Then he suddenly looked sheepish, "I was about to ask her if she saw enough of their faces for Abby to reconstruct for a BOLO, but then we got slightly off topic…"

I cast my mind back over our conversation and had to fight my face from betraying my amusement as I pinpointed the exact point Tony got side-tracked. Those Gibbs apologies _must_ be rare.

Gibbs glanced at me, his eyes probing. "Do you?"

 _I don't know._ "I can't make any promises, but I'll try." I answered grimly.

Gibbs seemed satisfied, he stepped back from the table, paused for a second and then threw his arms out. "Well DiNozzo, what are you waiting for?"

Tony all but jumped. "Right boss! To Abby's lab!"

The young agent turned to me, I got the impression he was having an internal debate as to whether or not I needed help getting off the table.

I laughed. "I have a few bruises, Tony. I'm not disabled." I hopped off the medical table to demonstrate.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but still looked embarrassed. "Sorry, I wasn't sure…"

We were headed towards the door, when all of a sudden Ducky reappeared out from what looked to be a filing room. He was carrying a few case files in his arms.

He looked up, noticed we were on our way out and called out – "Ah Emily, before you go! As a doctor, I feel compelled to advise you against doing any strenuous physical activity as it could worsen the injuries you've received thus far." He nodded mostly to himself, his innate urge to advise having now been sated.

"Don't worry, I won't" I assured him. Despite just a few days ago having had the strong desire to go swimming, I somehow wasn't really in the mood anymore. "Thanks again, Ducky."

He smiled, "Not a problem, my dear!"

On our way out, Tony hastily moved forwards to open the second set of not-so-automatic doors for me, but stopped short at my expression. "I know, I know, _not disabled_ …" He rolled his eyes, grinning. "I was just being polite."

I mirrored his grin, whilst shooting him a sarcastic look. "I would never have pegged you as the _polite_ type, Tony."

He opened his mouth; no doubt to devoutly defend his honour, when from the other room came a gruff "DiNozzo!"

"Yeah boss, going boss." Tony hurried out. I followed behind, smirking slightly.

Now standing in a Gibbs free environment, I gradually felt myself relax.

"Gibbs is… kinda terrifying…" I couldn't help admitting as we stepped into the elevator.

DiNozzo let out a laugh as he reached to press the button for Abby's lab, "Just kinda? I'm pretty sure he'd take that as an insult."

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Yeah, I take that back. He's actually the scariest person I've ever met."

Tony grinned for a second. "Hell of a guy to have on your six though." He said, considering me seriously.

I had to agree.

Upon entering the lab, we were swiftly ambushed –although this time not by the overzealous forensic specialist, but by the deafening music that boomed from speakers on either side of the room.

Was something wrong? I looked at Tony for an explanation.

He caught my eye and grimaced. "Abby likes her music loud." He said – or more accurately, yelled.

Through a set of glass doors, the forensic scientist was visible.

She was staring at the computer screen, absorbed in her work, a sleek black pigtail wrapped around her fingers.

Tony strolled up to the automatic doors with a little too much gusto and almost crashed straight into them when they refused to open.

Incredibly, Abby was still completely unaware that she had visitors.

"Abby?!" Tony shouted, rapping on the glass door to grab her attention.

She started. "Oh! Hey guys!" She picked up a remote, pressed a button and the doors slid open.

"Sorry about the music!" She practically bounded into the main part of the lab and hit a button on the keyboard, silencing the music abruptly.

"Loud, huh?" She beamed.

"Just a touch, Abby, my brain is ringing." Tony said, thumping the side of his head with his hand.

"Aw Tony, I didn't know you had a brain!"

Tony frowned.

I laughed.

Abby grinned at me, and raising her eyebrows, looked from Tony to me expectantly.

"So, what can I do for you?"

"Well, Abs, we were hoping you could help us with a facial reconstruction?" Tony asked, absentmindedly fiddling with a bobble-head figure on the table in front of the keyboard that bore an uncanny resemblance to Agent Gibbs.

"A facial reconstruction? But of course – you have come to the right place."

"Thanks Abs," Tony said as he checked his phone. Suddenly, he let out a strangled cry. "Yeesh, that's a lot of unread messages from Gibbs." He looked anxiously at me; a silent question.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be fine here with Abby." I assured him.

Abby nodded enthusiastically.

He seemed somewhat reassured and nodded a rushed goodbye as he made his exit. "I'll be back as soon as I've dealt with whatever _this_ is."

And then he was gone.

Abby turned to me, "So, you ready?"


	3. Coffee Break

The facial reconstruction proved much harder I'd anticipated. It soon became apparent that the only memories I had of my attackers were blurred and out of reach. A fair amount of time had passed since Tony left, and we were still nowhere near finished: _hell, we'd barely even started_ …

Abby had somehow managed to maintain a positive attitude throughout despite my inability to grasp at the swirling sea of facial features in my head long enough to capture any usable images, but I got the feeling that she was about ready to throw in the towel.

I rubbed my temples, feeling a rare headache looming, and stared out of the window. It was pretty dark, despite it only being around 16:30.

"Maybe we should take a break?" She offered tentatively. I detected a hint of concern in her tone.

Frustration was pooling in my stomach like lead, telling me that I was no longer in the right frame of mind to continue, that I needed a break; but this was so _typical_ of me. How could I forget the faces of the two men who almost _killed_ me?

I shook my head angrily, ripping my eyes away from the window.

"No, I know I'll remember something. I just need to think."

She nodded understandably. "Take as much time as you need."

But it was no use. I wasn't going to get any inspirational flashes of insight, my mind was a static void and this wasn't a movie. I rubbed my eyes, my cooler than usual hands relieving the dull throbbing a little, and I tried my best to think _through_ the haze caused by both my increasing headache and anxiety. No luck.

After what must have been about five minutes, I heard the unmistakable sound of someone entering the lab.

It was Tony. Abby got up quietly from her seat beside me and went to greet him. Their hushed voices weaved their way towards me as I sat, eyes scrunched shut, trying to force my mind to cooperate, and I soon found myself hanging onto their words instead of foraging through my own memories.

"So, how's it going?" I heard Tony ask quietly.

"Not so great. She's having trouble remembering."

Tony sighed. I felt it as a sharp stab to my gut. _Was he disappointed?_

"Have we got anything?"

 _No._ I answered self-pityingly in my head. _We have nothing because I'm an idiot._

Abby must have shaken her head.

There was a pause.

I heard Tony move towards me.

"Hey, how're you doing?" He asked softly, his eyes scanning mine.

I was afraid of what I'd see in his expression, so I just shook my head and stared at the wall. "Not good. I've been trying but I can't – I just … I don't _remembe_ r."

There was a pause and then –

"C'mon, you look exhausted. Let's take a break – grab some coffee."

I was all set to decline the offer, when thankfully one of the more rational parts of my brain finally took charge in reminding myself that I would be of no use to anyone in this state; and so I found myself agreeing.

Tony seemed relieved, it's possible he thought I would've put up more of a fight – perhaps I would've if it hadn't been for the now quite painful headache pounding at my skull.

"Although I'm not a huge fan of coffee" I admitted, standing up anyway, my muscles a little stiff. "But I'm up for getting some tea."

Tony laughed. "The English and their tea. Sure."

I saw Abby grin from where she stood slightly behind Tony.

He waited for me to move ahead of him towards the door, but before I did, I threw a small smile at Abby. "Thanks for helping, I'm just sorry we didn't get very far." I said.

"It was no problem! And don't worry about it! I know you'll remember something soon." She gave me a reassuring smile.

I nodded unconvincingly. I was grateful for her confidence, but lacked any real certainty of my own.

I moved out the door, Tony following behind after saying goodbye to Abby.

It turns out that Tony hadn't meant for us to 'grab coffee' from NCIS' own café, and instead I found myself being lead outside the building completely.

The sky had darkened marginally since just a few minutes ago and the wind was bracing: but cold as it was, I was still glad to be out.

However, after a few minutes of walking god knows where, I was beginning to miss the warmth of NCIS.

"Where are we going?" I asked after another minute. My curiosity having been effectively peaked; combined, though, with a familiar sense of dread – the influence of which forced me to entertain an unwelcome notion. _What if I couldn't trust Tony?_

I impatiently pushed the unsettling thoughts of unwarranted paranoia away and listened out for the agent's reply, which I knew would be difficult to interpret over the collective rush of traffic and howling wind.

"Not much further." He was walking quite swiftly and whilst I'd usually have had no issue keeping up, the effects of the cold and constant movement was beginning to put a painful strain on my shoulder. This, and the fact that I hadn't eaten in a while, considerably slowed my pace.

I had just about had enough, and was about to call out for him to _slow down_ a little when I was suddenly accosted by the vague blur of someone running for (I gathered from the parked vehicle I had passed a moment ago) the bus. This was fine, and as a person who had experienced their fair share of sporadically scheduled public transport, I even sympathised with this dudes plight.

What _wasn't_ fine is what happened next. I made a move so as to give the runner some space to move past me on the pavement when without any warning, _another_ person – this time from behind, barrelled past me, inadvertently full on _crashing_ into my left shoulder as he bolted away. I swear to god, I could literally _taste_ the pain.

For the next couple of seconds I was essentially dead to the world, but thankfully I must have made some form of noise to alert Tony, for when I 'came to', he was standing in front of me looking stricken. I, on the other hand, must have looked like I was ready to keel over.

"What happened?" Tony pressed urgently, his eyes scanning the area; one hand now hovering over the weapon I knew to be concealed at his waist.

I shook my head to communicate across that there was no need for his gun. "It was just some idiot, he knocked into my shoulder when he ran past."

Concern immediately washed over his face, I saw his eyes go to my shoulder. "Shit, are you okay?"

My shoulder was throbbing, making a powerful addition to the strong ache in my head. "I'll get back to you on that."

I then stupidly decided to move a little closer to the wall on the right, my intention being to lean against it; but the moment I took a step, I was instead overtook by the sudden and overwhelming urge to throw up.

Through the haze I was vaguely aware of Tony saying my name, but the way I was feeling reminded me all too much of the awful car sickness I used to get as a child, and his voice just washed over me. I just groaned, and squeezing my eyes closed, let my head fall against Tony's chest in a vain attempt to stop the pounding in my skull.

As irritated as I was at myself for doing that, I was somewhat pleased to note that it did actually help ease the noise of the wind, which in turn helped my headache.

He gently placed both hands on my arms to steady me, and although my world was still spinning slightly, I got the impression that we were moving somewhere.

I don't think that I'd passed out, but my consciousness had definitely taken a short break because I realised that I had no recollection of having gotten to where I was now – _where I was now_ being surrounded by shelves of what looked to be books in a small library. I was situated in one of the aisles, propped up against the wall.

I sluggishly came to realise that Tony was knelt down in front of me. I caught his expression change from worry to relief once he saw that I was awake. "Hey, glad to have you back." He spoke quietly – w _e are in a library after all;_ my superstar of a brain rationalised.

I tried to say something other than "Mmmghh" but didn't have much luck. After sighing and resting my head against the wall for a moment, I went in for a second attempt at the whole _speaking_ thing. "I'm good… just give me a minute."

"You don't half attract trouble, do you?" I heard him sigh, but I could tell he was a touch amused.

This thought had occurred to me. I squinted up at him, feeling a little sheepish. "Tell me about it…" Then I laughed, wincing at the dulled pain in my head. "I swear that usually my life is pretty uneventful. It's just these last couple of days… Jesus, it's like something out of a thriller."

Tony shuffled around to position himself against the wall next to me, "I'm more of an action/crime drama guy myself – you ever seen _The Godfather_?"

I shook my head. The vague image of a severed horse's head had floated to the forefront of my mind, but I didn't really know what to make of that.

"Ah," he sighed, "now _that_ is a _great_ movie. It's got everything – action, suspense…the _Mafia_ … Did you know that _actual_ members of the Gambino crime family supposedly came to visit the set? Man, I tell ya, I'd have loved to see that…." He cleared his throat abruptly, "…to arrest them, of course."

I grinned. "Gibbs isn't here, you know."

He turned his head to me conspiratorially. "The boss-man has eyes and ears _every_ where."

Just then the sound of his ringtone filled the air – causing someone a couple aisles over to actually ' _shush'_ us. Tony fished around in his jacket, retrieving his phone. He checked the caller I.D and raised his eyebrows knowingly, a quick glance at the screen revealed the caller to be none other than Gibbs.

I had to admit, the man had impeccable timing.

Tony flipped the phone open. "Yeah, boss." He threw a glance at me.

I could hear Gibb's voice, but I couldn't fully make out the words.

"Yeah, got it boss." He snapped the phone shut and stood up.

I frowned. "That was quick. What does he want?"

"He basically told us to get our butts back to NCIS _pronto_."

I smirked. "Gibbs said _pronto_?"

"I was keeping it PG. He didn't quite use the word 'butts' either."

I laughed and, with the combined help of the shelf and Tony, managed to stand up.

"Do you think you're okay to walk?" Tony asked, I could practically _see_ the doubt radiating from him in waves as he observed how unsteady I was.

Admittedly, I wasn't feeling as good as I _could_ have been; I _was_ a little bit shaky, sure, but I didn't see why I couldn't walk the couple of blocks back to NCIS. I got the nagging feeling that I was being somewhat irrational when I lazily chalked my instability down to adrenaline, but I pushed this aside. I wanted to walk.

"I should be, I didn't injure my legs." I replied somewhat tersely.

"We can catch a cab back if you'd prefer?" He asked. "We should also have Ducky take another look at your shoulder too."

I rolled my eyes. "It's fine…"

Grinning, Tony threw his arms up slightly in a gesture of resignation. "You're about as stubborn as Ziva in your own way." He muttered, partly to himself.

That caught my attention. "Who is Ziva, anyway?" I asked curiously, as we exchanged the comforting warmth of the library for the chilly night's air – Tony all the while keeping a close eye on me. "You mentioned her before."

" _Ziva_ is an NCIS agent, she used to work for Mossad so she's got serious ninja skills. She's away on assignment at the moment, but you'd like her."

"When's she coming back?"

He paused, a distant look in his eye. "When she gets the job done, I suppose."

I got the sense that this topic of discussion was a doorway to something a whole lot more complicated, so I decided to change the subject to something else that had been nagging at me.

"Where were we going anyway, you know; _before?_ Were we really just going for coffee?"

Tony flashed a look of confusion, "Yeah, I usually go to this great coffee joint about fifteen minutes away…Why?" He suddenly grinned. "Did you think I was leading you to my awesome secret special agent lair?"

I shrugged, not feeling the pain in my shoulder at all. … _must be healing…_

"You seemed to be in a real big rush for just coffee."

He seemed genuinely offended. " _Just_ coffee?" He echoed, "Jus- … Unbelievable…"

I chuckled, shaking my head, causing me to accidentally let out a gasp as an unexpected spike of pain sliced through my skull, before dulling considerably. The ground lurched and I stumbled slightly.

"What?" Tony asked, coming to a stop. "You want to call a cab?"

I frowned, trying to keep my irritation at bay. No matter how annoying my body was being, Tony was just being nice. "No, I just have a headache. I'll live."

Tony looked dubious.

"Come on," I laughed, walking forwards unsteadily, but turning to look back at him. "isn't fresh air supposed to help these things anyway?"

He still appeared doubtful. I sighed, coming to a wobbly stop too, but only because my sense of direction was about as operational as my ability to convince people that I wasn't marked for death, and without Tony I'd have no chance of finding my way back to NCIS.

I turned back towards Tony somewhat dejectedly, walking until I was in front of him.

I was about to turn on the full force of my persuasive skills when something in my mind shifted and I suddenly realised that maybe there _was_ something wrong. I was feeling strangely drowsy, then there was the lack of pain in my shoulder…and since when were there _two_ Tony's'?

I felt a stab of fear, my mind automatically flashing back to the man who had bumped into me earlier, alighting on the sharp prick I'd felt – and then forgotten, as it was overtaken by the tidal wave of pain in my shoulder.

"Tony…Something's wrong…"

I was thinking fast. I was fairly certain that whoever drugged me had assumed that I was out alone, since Tony had been walking ahead. I was _less_ certain as to whether or not they had anything else planned by way of kidnap or assault; the bottom line being, _I had to tell Tony._

"Tony." My speech was a little slurred. _How had I not noticed that before?_ And I now had pretty severe double vision, but I could see enough of the agent's face to know that he was distracted by something I had my back to.

"Emily!" He warned, pushing me behind him, and going for his gun. I was thrown slightly off balance, but was able to regain composure by clinging on to the lamppost beside me. I frowned at the perplexing scene unfolding before me.

There were four guys…no, I squinted through the haze; there were _two_ guys at the end of the street just a few metres away from Tony, who announced himself to be an NCIS agent. His words reverberated impossibly into the still night. Tony said something else, but I was having difficulty concentrating, and there was a slight pause, before I saw both guys… no … _one_ guy pull out a gun ….that turned into a knife… It glinted, throwing me momentarily back into the _other_ memory…I shook my head. _Concentrate._ The assailant raised the knife…no, the _gun,_ it was a gun…

Tony shouted something, his words made ripples in the air _… I turned a corner, running headfirst into the second attacker, who threw me down to the ground… No!_ With effort, I zoned back in, my head pounding… _this makes no sense._ More yelling, rising into the night like a tsunami and then there was a crescendo; a rapid series of gunshots shattering the atmosphere like glass. A figure crumpled to the ground in a heap. _Tony! No..."TONY!"_

 _Tony!_ There was still someone moving, but I was too sick to care. I was on the floor now. The dim shadow creature was moving towards me. I think I was shaking, still mumbling Tony's name. Everything was too unstable, and I just couldn't _think._ The person crouched down in front of me, and reached a hand out towards my face. I shrank away, wondering why they were dragging this out, why they _weren't shooting me too…_

Out from the curious stillness drifted a voice that sounded painfully familiar.

"Emily… It's okay."

My brain was telling me this was Tony. Which was implausible. Tony was dead… Tony was dead… _dead_ … _dead_ …

The voice was soft. "I'm not dead, Em. You have to open your eyes."

I was done with this. I have to _open my eyes…to what, the truth? That sounds like the sort of vague advice a ghost would give…_

"No. Em, literally _open_ your eyes – you have your eyes closed."

It took a while for the words to register in the thick folds of my mind, and a little bit longer for me to get my eyelids to cooperate, but when I did, I was greeted by a very hazy, but otherwise 100% alive Tony crouched down in front of me.

I didn't understand. "I don't understand." I said simply.

Tony carefully reached a hand up to my face to wipe something away, that's when I realised I must have been crying.

"I saw you _die_." I told him, clutching onto his arm, relieved to actually feel him here. He let me fall forwards, enveloping me in a warm hug.

He sighed, gently pulling away. "I know, but I'm okay." He was looking at me oddly, his face swimming in and out of focus, "Ducky'll have a field day with this…"

"Ducky's coming here?" I asked, desperate for any kind of understanding to dawn on me, but also having the innate feeling that I wouldn't be experiencing much of that for the time being.

Particles of air shifted around DiNozzo's head as he nodded, reminding me of little beads of light in water. _That makes no sense,_ a voice in my head stated.

"Why?" I squinted up at him.

He frowned, gesturing to the ground. "Because of the bodies…"

I had no real awareness of the passage of time; the drugs had messed that up for the moment, but considering how close we were to NCIS, I knew that it probably didn't take too long for Ducky to arrive on the scene, followed by Gibbs and McGee.

"DiNozzo? What happened?" Gibbs barked – _just like a dog,_ I mused internally; or maybe not quite as internally as I'd imagined judging by the looks of surprise thrown at me by McGee and Ducky.

"Well boss, as you can see, there was an incident." Tony grimaced. He moved closer to me.

I decided that now was a brilliant time to stand up; my legs, on the other hand, did not fully agree.

I most likely would've fallen had it not been for Tony, who readily caught me, once again stopping my descent. _I should've stayed sat down, everything was spinning again…_

"Oh my…" Ducky raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Ugh, some help, boss?"

Gibbs moved closer and helped him slowly lower me to back to the ground. "What happened?"

"She was drugged."

"I got _that_ , DiNozzo. I meant how?"

I heard Tony fill Gibbs in on everything that had happened since we'd left the building, but he seemed at a loss to pinpoint the exact moment I'd been dosed with whatever this was. I, however, was lucid enough to still remember, and something prodded me to speak up.

I'm not entirely sure what noise I made to attract the agent's attention, but whatever I did worked. Gibbs crouched down in front of me. I peered curiously at the multiple versions of him that swam before me. _Tell him what happened._ A voice prompted me. _Right…_ I tried to concentrate.

"The man that bumped into me…" I managed in a slurred, but coherent enough manner, "I felt a …sting, but I forgot." The air around Gibbs was shimmering.

 _I could easily be imagining him,_ I thought, and so I lifted a finger intending to prod him experimentally. All of the Gibbs' suddenly wore a small smile, before disappearing out of view quite suddenly. I frowned. Then he was back.

"Where?" His voice floated oddly on the air and I felt that if I just reached out, I could grab the individual letters…

"Emily, look at me." He said, and waited patiently until I did. "Where abouts?"

 _Where abouts what? Where abouts… did the man inject - oh. "_ Arm…Somewhere _."_

Gibbs nodded and briefly rested a hand on my head before standing up and addressing Tony.

"DiNozzo,"

Tony perked. "Yeah, boss?"

"Take Emily back to NCIS, get Abby to run a tox screen. Take the car," Gibbs threw the keys to Tony, gesturing over to the silver car parked somewhat haphazardly across the road. "– then wait there for us."

"Got it, boss."

" – and Tony, try to keep her _out_ of trouble."

Tony looked a little abashed, but nodded.

He turned to me, "Hey Em, we're gonna go for a car ride back to NCIS, okay?"

I saw nothing wrong with that, and nodded.

In the background, I heard the snap of a camera; it flashed in the window of my mind like lightning, and the low rumble of Gibbs' voice filled the air…I could see the syllables intertwining themselves through the darkness. I shook my head. _Man, I'm high right now._

Tony helped me up, "Whoa, steady."

I was still extremely disoriented, but at least the drugs were good for keeping my headache at bay. He guided me to the car, a stabilising hand on my arm, the other unlocking the car. He then helped me slide into the passenger seat and went to buckle me in, but I was having none of that.

"No, no, I can do it." I told him confidently.

He raised his eyebrows doubtfully, but allowed me to handle it all the same. After shutting my door, he moved round to his side and plugged himself in. He then shifted around in my direction to make sure I was buckled in. I was not. I'd forgotten all about it.

He reached past me, grasped the seatbelt and fastened it with a click. "You good?" He asked.

"I feel floaty."

He chuckled. "I don't doubt that."

The drive went by in a disconcerting concoction of blurred lights and distorted sound, and before I knew it we were back at NCIS.

I heard Tony switch of the engine, and move around to help me out of the car. I tried to unplug myself, but was having a bit of trouble getting my body to cooperate. Fortunately, Tony had better luck. He unbuckled me quickly, and then carefully hoisted me out of the vehicle, holding me up when my legs failed to.

"Do you think you can walk?" He asked, concerned.

I grimaced, gripping onto him tightly. "No… I can't move properly." I was beginning to panic a little bit now, worried that something had gone wrong. Everything felt disturbingly numb.

He seemed to sense my increasing distress.

"You'll be okay, we just need to get you inside. Okay?" He spoke firmly, anxious to get through to me. I was still scared, but I nodded, believing him.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Just put your arm around me…" He scooted down and helped me to lift my left arm over his shoulder so that he could support most of my weight. Then he paused suddenly. "Wait, which shoulder is the one you dislocated?"

"My left." I replied. I felt him grimace. "But I can't feel anything right now." I assured him.

"You will in the morning." He replied, uneasily. "C'mon let's get you up to Abby's."


End file.
